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Wheaton native plans to swim English Channel to fight diabetes

Wheaton native Marian Cardwell plans to swim the English Channel to raise money to fight diabetes

A competitive swimmer in high school and college, Wheaton native Marian Cardwell knows what it means to push her body beyond her perceived limits.

But Cardwell, 22, will be in the swim of her life this month when she attempts to cross the English Channel. She estimates she'll spend 12 to 14 hours in 60-degree water contending with past left shoulder injuries and possible jellyfish stings.

But it's the cold water in that part of the Atlantic Ocean separating England from France that most concerns her. Because the first person to cross the channel wore only a swimsuit, wet suits are not allowed.

“There is a real possibility the cold water could hinder me from finishing,” she wrote in an email. “As long as my brain continues to direct my body, rather than the pain in my body directing my brain, I'll continue swimming. For me, it's really the surprises that the channel has to offer and the things that I cannot control that are the most challenging.”

Cardwell is doing the swim in honor of her uncle, Wally Filkin, of Wheaton, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at 15. She hopes to raise $45,000 for the Chicago Diabetes Project, which is working to provide a functional cure for diabetes that would allow patients to produce their own insulin through islet cell transplants.

The swimmer said her uncle, now 72 and in deteriorating health, always has been an inspiration A young athlete eager to play basketball at the time he was diagnosed, Filkin continued to play throughout high school, college and in local leagues.

“I admire my uncle because at 15, he made the choice to continue living his life despite having diabetes,” she said. “Moreover, he not only continued to simply live, but he seized life and thrived. His determination and persistence to overcome obstacle after obstacle, while guarding a thankful attitude toward God for his life, continually inspires me.”

Filkin recalled he was devastated by his diagnosis until a doctor told him he could continue to play basketball as long as he took care of himself.

“That's when my life started up again,” he said.

Filkin went on to become an investment broker, served on the board of Central DuPage Hospital for 30 years, and as president of the alumni board of Wheaton College. His lifestyle was impaired two years ago when he had a stroke and he now suffers from congestive heart failure.

Now on the steering committee of the Chicago Diabetes Project, Filkin said he is confident the research will free other diabetic patients from the challenges he faced. He's honored his niece has chosen to support it, he said.

“I was stunned by the notion of swimming across the English Channel,” he said. “She is an amazing young woman.”

English Channel

Cardwell said she got the idea of swimming the Channel in spring 2011 after she decided to spend the 2011-12 school year in northern France as an English teaching assistant. Knowing she would be away from her uncle at a time when his health was deteriorating, she wanted to do something to support him. But she did not know if she would be able to train in France or find a boat pilot to accompany her.

Boat pilots often are booked two or three years in advance, but in January Cardwell heard back from a pilot who said he had an opening in July.

She will begin her swim between July 10 and 18 with the exact date determined by the weather and if three people ahead of her on the pilot's list choose to take the first openings. She'll know her swim date only 12 hours in advance.

Cardwell will swim from Dover, England, to near Cap Gris Nez, France, with her exact route being determined by water conditions, she said.

“Twenty-one miles is the shortest distance from England to France, but because the currents change about every six hours, I will be forced to swim in an S pattern,” she said. “The average path swimmers take is about 25 miles long, and some over 30 miles.”

Cardwell has been training for the past nine months. Most of her training has been in the pool, along with some open water swimming in a lake in southern Germany and the Mediterranean Sea.

Outside the water, she has done weightlifting and core and shoulder strengthening exercises. To qualify for the crossing, she also completed a six-hour cold-water swim in the Channel itself in late June.

Cardwell hopes to finish the swim in 12 to 14 hours. Her mother, sister and two friends will accompany her on the boat as she swims freestyle.

“I will be taking 10- to 30-second breaks about every 30 minutes to drink a high protein carbohydrate mixture and listen to advice from my support crew and captain,” she said. “Because I must remain in the water, I will do my best to keep these feedings quick to avoid getting too cold while stopped.”

If those on the boat see anything wrong, they'll pull her out of the water immediately.

“Swimming is a mental game,” said the Wheaton North High School graduate. “My past experience has taught me how to keep a positive mindset and shown me what I need to hear when I start to lose my morale. I know I will get extremely tired, but I also know I can always swim a little farther and a little harder.”

Diabetes Project

Cardwell said she has raised about one-tenth of the $45,000 she hopes to garner for the Chicago Diabetes Project. The project, started in 2004 and based at the University of Illinois Hospital and Health Services, has researchers and doctors involved from around the globe.

The aim is to give diabetic patients the ability to produce their own insulin. According to information on the project's website, 20.8 million people in the U.S. have diabetes. Five to 10 percent of those have Type 1, formerly known as juvenile diabetes. Patients with Type 1 diabetes cannot produce insulin to regulate blood sugar levels because their immune system destroys the insulin-producing cells in the pancreas. Patients with Type 2 diabetes, which often is associated with obesity, do not produce enough insulin or their body uses the insulin inefficiently.

The project's current focus is to transplant islet cells from donated pancreas into patients with Type 1 diabetes to allow them to produce their own insulin. During the project's first clinical trial, the 10 patients who received cell transplants successfully became insulin-independent.

However, patients may have to receive as many as three transplants before being able to produce their own insulin and have to take immunosuppressive drugs so their bodies do not reject the donated cells. The goal of the project is to overcome those obstacles by producing an unlimited supply of islet cells in the laboratory and placing them in protective capsules to avoid the need for immunosuppressive drugs.

When an unlimited number of islet cells is available, the benefits of the project could be expanded to patients with Type 2 diabetes, according to the project website.

Katie Marchetti, marketing research specialist with the Chicago Diabetes Project, said transplants cost about $100,000 a procedure — a cost not covered by insurance. The project needs to finish its clinical trials so islet cell transplants may be approved by the government and become eligible for insurance coverage, she said.

A $1 million campaign is under way to pay for the cost of completing the clinical trials and the project also is seeking patients with Type 1 diabetes to participate.

Chicago Diabetes Project has marathon teams to raise funds to supplement those it receives from foundations, businesses, academic institutions and other donations, Marchetti said. Cardwell is the first fundraiser to attempt a challenge like swimming the Channel.

To read Cardwell's blog and support her fundraising efforts, visit doverandover.com. Checks made out to the Chicago Diabetes Project with Marian Cardwell's name in the memo line also may be sent to Katie Marchetti, Marketing Research Specialist, University of Illinois Hospital and Health Systems, 840 S. Wood St., Suite 502 m/c 958, Chicago, IL 60612.

Marian Cardwell with her uncle Wally Filkin, left, and father Chuck Cardwell. Marian Cardwell is doing the swim in honor of Filkin, of Wheaton, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age 15. Courtesy of Marian Cardwell
Marian Cardwell has spent the past school year as an English teaching assistant in France. SheÂ’ll return to the United States after her swim to work for a medical company and plans to apply to medical school in the near future. Courtesy of Marian Cardwell
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